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Earthfile: Achieving Food Security And Fighting Off Land Grabbers

Channels TelevisionUpdated April 12, 2014

Over the years the term land grabbing has been evolving, it is not only petroleum companies and home developers that grab lands, those in agric business have also joined the league, and it is becoming ever so difficult to be able to tell which activities of these companies affect the food supply.

Confusing laws on land, much of which is owned or claimed by government officials, also mean it is difficult to expand. That has left 60 percent of Nigeria’s arable land fallow.

The government wants to add 20 million tons of domestic food production by 2020 and rice, corn, sorghum, palm oil and cocoa have already increased.

Farmers have said that one backlash has been a rise in smuggling of rice and sugar from neighbouring countries and into ports.

Higher cassava output has been used to make flour, reducing wheat imports mostly from the United States by almost 9 percent

The world’s second-largest importer of rice, Nigeria aims to become self-sufficient by 2015 after introducing a 100% tax on polished rice imports, likely to mostly affect countries like India, Thailand and Brazil.

There are many policies being implemented in the Agriculture sector but question still remains, who is taking up the land and making the nation hungry?